WebRTC: The Next Big Thing in Unified Communications

If you follow telecom news or have some involvement with your company’s communications system, chances are you’ve heard quite a bit about unified communications (UC)—a business architecture in which all communication channels reside in a single system—over the past several years. In fact, recent research from Infonetics indicates that the UC market grew 31 percent during the first half of 2014. Now, with Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC) opening exciting new possibilities as a vehicle for UC, the space is poised to expand even further.

WebRTC is an open-source project promoted by Google and other major tech companies that allows for real-time communications with browser-to-browser applications. How can it positively impact your company’s communications? With WebRTC, video, voice and chat communications can truly occur in real time. For instance, a user could initiate a video call and connect instantly—with no charge—to a colleague or client just by clicking a link (without any software installation or plug-in).

WebRTC is already making a major impact on personal video calling. In March of 2013, 13 percent of video calls were made over WebRTC, according to an infographic by WebRTCstats.com. Amazingly, by May of 2014, 76 percent of these calls were being made using the open-source technology. Now, as enterprises gradually become more aware of this open-source project, it stands to become a breakthrough technology for business communications as well. Some industry analysts project, for example, that by the end of 2016, roughly half of the entire expected Internet user base will use WebRTC in some capacity. How can these experts make such a bold prediction? Because WebRTC offers benefits too attractive for businesses to resist, including:

WebRTC and its potential impact on UC have profound implications for all kinds of businesses, particularly in customer-facing industries like call centers. Want to learn more about this technology? Click here for our WebRTC FAQ & Info page.